Naturally 7 and Michael Buble...OOO LA LA!

Ryan and I rarely get a real date night. All that waiting really paid off...thanks to a good friend! We are both big fans of the acapella group Naturally 7, who happens to be touring with Michael Buble right now! We've had the opportunity to meet Naturally 7 in the past and are always excited to get to see them in concert. Well, when Kurt Walker (he's the man) offered us tickets to their concert with Michael Buble in Charlottesville, we jumped at the chance! Georgi, our HERO, offered to watch Aubrey while she slept so we could go out for the night. We had to pick up our tickets by 7:30 in Charlottesville (and hour and a half away) and were in such a hurry because we were running late that I forgot my camera!!! I reminded myself multiple times throughout the day not to forget my camera, but my memory failed me yet again. Thanks to Jenny and Google for providing the pictures (sorry about the size issue). Anyway, we went up with the Eldredge's and the Himes' and had a great time! We got to will call to pick up our tickets and found out that Ryan and I were not sitting with the other four. It all worked out because we had the most AMAZING seats! We were center stage (on the end of the row) nine rows, yes NINE rows, back! It was, for lack of a better word, AMAZING! Here are some pictures, although they don't do the experience any justice.

Here we are after the concert hanging out with Naturally 7. Their bus actually caught on fire the week before our concert, and they literally lost everything on the bus (including a few passports)! We're just glad they were all ok. They are so talented and I recommend that everyone visit You Tube and look up some of their videos!

Here is the story behind the glasses. Michael Buble, and just about his entire band, were wearing sunglasses the entire concert. Apparantly a spider bit Michael near his eye the night before while he was sleeping on the bus.
At one point he took his glasses off, but wouldn't uncover his other eye to show off the bite. It didn't matter much, he still sounded incredible!
What a stud...glasses and all!
One quick experience from the show. There was a little four year old girl (Cassie) sitting in the row right in front of us. She and her mom are both HUGE Michael Buble fans, and Cassie knew the words to literally EVERY song! It was impressive. The entire time Cassie was standing on her seat, waving at him, trying to get his attention. It paid off because at some point during the show he jumped off the stage and ran back the eight rows to her, picked her up, and gave her a kiss. We were literally two feet from him! It was quite the experience all around, so thanks again to Kurt for making it happen!

Froggy Invasion!

Our house has been invaded by a frog that won't stop 'ribbiting' (if that is even a word), but we don't mind because this is the cutest frog we have ever seen!

Laughter...the best medicine!

Sometimes I wonder if we're crazy to be having another baby so soon after Aubrey. I realize that I am crazy, but all those sleepless nights and messy house seem to be numbed by moments like these. Aubrey was a riot the other night. She was laughing so hard and had us both laughing until our sides hurt. This, my friends, is what life is really about!

Sunny days and PB&J...the good, and somewhat sticky, life!

So I have a small, and somewhat embarassing confession to make. Aubrey's friend Alexys comes over everyday, and this afternoon was so nice that we took some time to go outside. Last year we cut down a huge pine tree in our yard and havn't yet had the stump removed. The girls wanted to play on the stump, so I checked to see if there was any sap on it. It was bone dry so I let them play on it. They sat for a few pictures (they wouldn't look at the camera at the same time), and then when Alexys tried to get up her rear was stuck to the stump. She finally got herself unstuck, but her tush was covered in sap. Yeah, sticky sticky sap. After some quick research, and a little olive oil, and a round in the washing maching, the sap came off. Also take note of Aubrey's one mitten. She brought it to me and wanted to put it on (but just one) and wouldn't take it off. Our little Michael Jackson impersonator! Just another day in paradise!

Aubrey's new favorite food is PB&J. She chowed down at lunch the other day, and just looked so cute while doing it, messy/sticky face and all!

What a surprise!

Everyone (at least Ryan, his mom, my mom, and myself) were sure baby #2 was a boy. We went in for our ultrasound today, and this is what popped up on the screen!

We are very excited to have another girl and I must admit I am a bit relieved to know that two children only 17 months apart will be able to play with doll/barbies, etc. together. Aubrey is sucha girly girl that I wonder if this one will follow in her big sister's footsteps. I have some girl names leftover from my pregnancy with Aubrey, but I don't think Ryan is convinced--YET ;)! Here is our little stinker's profile. She wouldn't stop moving through the entire ultrasound and it looked like she was dancing. If you know how to "see" ultrasounds, you can see her hand(s) above her belly as she "danced" through her big debut as a girl! My favorite part of our ultrasounds are always seening the baby's fingers and toes. Here is the top of her head and one of her feet/set of toes. Aubrey has gotten so big that I have forgotten how tiny these little ones come (and for that I am GRATEFUL)!
This one is probably my favorite picture from our visit. The little baby told me one day that she was bored all by herself in there so I swallowed a balloon animal and here she is playing with it. I think it might have been a giraffe!

Well, this is the latest news on our newest addition. We feel so very blessed to be having another beautiful (I just know she will be :) baby girl, and are grateful just to see how healthy she is! Noting beats being a parent...NOTHING!!!

The morning after

Here is our little princess the morning after all the festivies. Being the girl she is, her favorite present was this baby carrier from Midge and Cory. She carries it all around the house and rocks the baby in it. It is the first thing she goes for when she wakes up in the morning! Thanks Cory and Midge (Cory actually picked it out -- way to go) for the great gift!

Three generations (Ryan, Aubrey, and Aubrey's baby who remains unnamed until she is old enough to pick one out herself)!

She had her cake and ate it too (well, picked at it)!

I must confess, I was hoping that Aubrey would make more of a mess with her cake, but I am realizing more and more what a girly girl she is. Not only does she love cell phones, jewelry, clothes (strange, but she really does have a fetish for clothes), and makeup (she loves to sit in front of the mirror with my makeup brushes and "put it on"), but she loves to take baths and apparantly hates getting her hands messy. The first video is Aubrey at her first attempt at her cake. Even with coaxing from mommy, she still refused to dig in...until we gave her a fork (video 2) and then she started to eat it. We have quite the little girl on our hands, but what a sweetheart!

Somebody turned 1, and we partied hard!!!

Ok...so I realize this is our first child, and it was her first birthday, but I couldn't help but go overboard with pictures of her big day. Ryan took control of the camera while I tried to make sure everything ran smoothly (which it did)! Aubrey takes after her dad when it comes to her sociality, because she is the queen of social butterflies! We invited just about every friend she had and everyone seemed to have a great time (we really missed all our family and friends who weren't with us, and hope Hannah's party was lots of fun too)! Here are some pictures from her big day! We actually had to wake her up from her nap a little early when her friends started coming (hence the bed head hair), but she fared well! Enjoy this way too long stream of pictures!

Aubrey is such a girl...she loves lip gloss and cell phones (among many others), as demonstrated in this picture.

Charlie and Ryan's dad just hanging out!

Aubrey with GG (Ryan's mom)!

Let me explain. I am a stay at home mom with no car. I have nothing but time on my hands while Aubrey is sleeping so I decided to have a little fun with her birthday cake. I am not the artist in my family so you will notice many imperfections with the cake (i.e. crooked door and flowers...etc.), but I had a lot of fun making it and it tasted yummy (what birthday cake doesn't?)! Then I realized we probably wouldn't have enough cake for all the guests so I made another cake (way too much free time), this one was a bathtub. Needless to say, the cakes took a back seat to the birthday girl, but that's the way it should be.

The Gabester pushing the baby in her stroller!

We had a slight princess theme at the party (I found this Cinderella Halloween costume for a great deal and just had to buy it), so Aubrey got to dress up in her pretty costume. I'm hopeless I know, but she was just so darn cute in it :)!

This was just the cutest picture I've ever seen, thanks to Ana Julia! What a sweetheart! Aubrey is blessed with so many wonderful friends!

Our little buddy Trae. He is so adorable and it was nice to have a little more testosterone to the party...thanks Trae!

This is the part of the pictures where we take a minute to thank so many wonderful friends for coming and supporting Aubrey! Thanks everyone...you really are the greatest!

Midge and Cory Sullivan

Paul, Nikki, and Alexys Tobias (foget the shirt...GO HEELS)!

The Grawrocks (minus Matt who was at practice).

The Eldredge Family

Good old Jordan (he's single ladies :)

The Jolley Family

Little Kira Jolley (not pictured with her family above) who impressed us all by sleeping through most of the noise!

The Mason family

Marian and Ben Griffin

Sara and Pete Hansen

Steve, Renee, and Moana

Charlie and Hang Tao

The Adams Family

Andrea Stuart (our #1 babysitter)

Last, but certainly not least, Nicki and Amber Hadfield with their beautiful girls Zara and Ana Julia (Marc and Matt couldn't make it)!

We have all been blessed with such wonderful friends here in Buena Vista!

A day at the soccer field

Saturday was such a nice day that Ryan went and played soccer with Charlie, Georgi, and some of their friends. Aubrey and I tagged along, but had our fun. Here are some of the classic Aubrey faces...she's such a riot!

Aubrey managed to sneak into Uncle Charlie's bag and took out his water bottle. She's such a determined little girl -- when she wants something, she just takes it (we're working on the sharing thing but she's taking her time grasping that concept).
Once she had enough water she kept digging through his bag to try and find somethig else worth while, but only managed to find some dirty shin guards. Better luck next time Aubrey!